happy new year! (favourites of 2000 - the year, not the decade)

It's been my NYE habit, since KEEW was still a radio show, to reflect back on my favourite records of ten years ago rather than the year just past. Here's a list of albums I was appreciating in 2000 (or have learned to appreciate since).

Nightingale I

Halford Resurrection

Nevermore Dead Heart in a Dead World

Vintersorg Cosmic Genesis

In Flames Clayman

Cradle of Filth Midian

Ewigkeit Land of Fog

Theatre of Tragedy Musique

Hammerfall Renegade

Immortal Damned in Black

Pain of Salvation The Perfect Element, Part I

Martyr Warp Zone

Quo Vadis Day Into Night

Novembre Classica

Him Razorblade Romance

(apologies to any great albums from 2000 that I forgot!)

hellbound's year-end wrap up and metal news (updated)

Now up on Hellbound.ca...

New feature: recent news in metal.

And, counting down... I'm sorry to say I haven't heard everything on this list, but I like what I've heard. (stay tuned for more to come!)

The first five entries in Hellbound's top 20 of 2010.

Top 15 to 11.

Bottom half of the top 10.

Plus, the Hellbound writers' individual top 10s (mine included).

Hellbounders' retrospective: memorable metal events of 2010.

more agalloch. more live black metal.

Every once in a while I somehow keep managing to get something written.

Like this Agalloch Q&A (already a few weeks old), now posted at exclaim.ca.

And this Dimmu Borgir / Enslaved /Blood Red Throne / Dawn of Ashes live review (with a delightfully green photo by Adam Wills).

A few more sentiments on the show that didn't make it to the exclaim site...

Cold rain creeping into ice and snow seemed like the right kind of weather to welcome Dimmu Borgir and their “Darkness Reborn” tour mates to Toronto, and the early blackening of the skies complemented the blackened sounds within. The line-up wasn’t an obvious match-up but fairly well rounded, revealing at least three different takes on extreme metal. Performing before and after Enslaved wasn’t really fair to any of the other bands and, in retrospect, the others might have been more impressive without that overshadowing presence.

(I also tried to say that Enslaved's 45 minutes might as well have been show-stopping, not that it might as well have been Enslaved...)

pre-winter december reviews (though it's definitely cold outside)

It's that time of year again. Cold. Hints of snow (or lots of snow depending on where you are). And end-of-year best of lists rolling out from various music publications. Exclaim's and mine have nothing in common, almost. You wouldn't even know I'd cast my votes. Stay tuned to Hellbound for what I expect will be a more complementary version of the best of 2010 in metal (and perhaps my own lists reproduced in full).

In the meantime, I have managed to review an album and a show (and mark, theorize, strategize and paint a ceiling - but that's another story or four).

My appreciative take on Agalloch's latest, Marrow of the Spirit. (interview forthcoming)

My blurry impressions of Watain and company live in Toronto.

Now if it wasn't so cold I'd go put up some outdoor xmas lights!